Blacks Gain Over 10-Year Census

To commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week. The first celebration occurred on Feb. 12, 1926.

For many years, the second week of February was set aside for this celebration to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, as part of the nationâ€™s bicentennial, the week was expanded into Black History Month. Each year, US Presidents proclaim February as National African American History Month.

There are 43.9 millionÂ Blacks in the United States, Â either alone or in combination with one or more other races, as of Â Jul. 1, 2011, up 1.6% from the census on Apr. 1, 2010. That number is projected by the Census to grow to 77.4 million by July 1, 2060, 18.4% of the nation’s total population.

Accounting for 3.7 million of the Black population are New York, which led all states as of Jul. Â 1. Following it were Texas, the District of Columbia and Mississippi.

The 1.3 million Blacks of Cook Co., Ill., were the largest Black population of any county in 2011. But Fulton Co., Ga. had the largest numeric increase since 2010 (13,000). Holmes Co., Miss. was the county with the highest percentage of Blacks in the nation (82.9%).

Over 2.3 million are the number of Black military veterans in the United States in 2011.

The percentage of Blacks 25 and older with a high-school diploma or higher in 2011 rose to 82.5%, while Blacks 25 and older who had a bachelorâ€™s degree or higher in 2011 climbed to 18.4%. Â Over 1.6 million Blacks 25 and older is the number who had an advanced degree in 2011.

Number of Blacks enrolled in college in 2011 numbered 3.1 million, a 74.0% increase since 2001.

Voting brought out more than 11.1 million Blacks.

The number of Blacks who voted in the 2010 congressional election increased from 10% of the total electorate in 2006 to 12% in 2010. Blacks had the highest turnout rate in this age group in 2008 for the 18 to 24 years at 55%, an eight percent increase over 2004. A total of 65% of Black voters came out in 2008 election.

Not so good over the last census period, the annual median income of Black households in 2011 was $32,229, a decline of 2.7% from 2010. The poverty rate in 2011 for Blacks held at 27.6%. Despite this, the percentage of Blacks that were covered by health insurance during all or part of 2011 was 80.5%.

Among households with a Black householder, the percentage that contained a family in 2012 was 61.9%. There were 9.7 million Black family households, with 45.2% with married couples in 2012.

Number of Black grandparents who lived with their own grandchildren younger than 18 in 2011 was 1.2 million. Of this number, 48.5% were also responsible for their care.

Nationally, the percentage of households with a householder who was Black who lived in owner-occupied homes in 2011 has risen to 43.4%.

In the job market, the Census found 28.2% of Blacks 16 and older worked in management, business, science and arts occupations. Doing well in businesses, receipts for Black-owned businesses in 2007 were up 53.1% from 2002 to $135.7 billion. The number of Black-owned businesses totaled 1.9 million in 2007, up 60.5%. Of these, 37.7% of Black-owned businesses in 2007 were in health care and social assistance, repair and maintenance, and personal and laundry services. Black-owned firms operating in 2007 in New York accounted for 10.6% of the businesses nationally. New York led all states or state-equivalents.